“Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves.” Daniel 10:7
God’s presence always brings fear and trembling. We immediately recognize our dirtiness compared to His holiness. Â It brings reality to our need for Him.
Even those present with Daniel that couldn’t see the angel were struck with fear and awe. Â Daniel was the one in the presence of holiness, the one worshipping, but the others also felt the effects. Â The presence of God is so awesome that even those that deny it are affected by it.
If the presence of God always brings this type of discomfort, then why do we work so hard to make church services so comfortable? Don’t we want the presence of God in church? We can’t have the presence of God without the reality of His holiness compared with our un-holiness and the discomfort that the conflict between the two brings.
Please understand that I’m an advocate for church being a place that non-Christians can come and feel welcome.  The gauntlet we walk is to show them that even though the presence of God can seem overwhelming, intimidating and even tyrannical the reality is that the presence of God is the safest place to be.  That’s because He chooses and loves us unconditionally in-spite of ourselves. As Christians we understand that we are the scum of the universe, but we rest in, rely on and are comforted by the reality of God’s love for us anyway.  Jesus didn’t say, “blessed are the comfortable for they shall be comforted.”  No, He said that those who mourn, or are uncomfortable, will be comforted.  How can we know comfort if we never experience discomfort?
Daniel trembled because he knew that standing in God’s presence means death; either the death of whatever is unholy or the death of any flesh that clings to the unholy. Â One way or an other death is coming. Â Daniel mourned the death that was coming; either his death or the death of what he held dear. But, Daniel treasured the eternal reality of God’s comfort through His holiness more than the temporal counterfeit comfort that earthly possessions bring. It was because of the overwhelming fear and comfort of God’s holiness that He was able to show His singularly abundant comfort to Daniel. Â Daniel lived in the comfort of knowing and living God’s purpose for his life, even though it was rarely comfortable. The more uncomfortable we become, the more of God’s comfort we can experience in His purpose for us.
So, go ahead God, make us uncomfortable so that we can experience your complete comfort. Then we’ll be ready to give an account of our comfort through our worship.
That’s why worship